Dust In The Wind
by Jim Handy
Summary: Kevin Ford makes a desperate gamble to set everything right.
1. Battle Plans

Disclaimer: All recognizeable characters belong to Marvel comics. I am making nothing off them.

Author's Notes: Set some time after New X-Men #9.

Shan came in today and told me that they'd found Kevin. He'd been sighted at 2:00 PM outside of Langston, Georgia, attacking an afternoon jogger. A witness called the police, and Kevin fled to the outskirts of town and taken refuge in an old warehouse. Two officers, seeing him enter, called for backup and kicked open the door.

When the backup arrived, they found the two policemen on the floor, bodies already almost totally decomposed. Kevin had apparently made good his escape.

Shan told me all this, and then looked at me for the longest time, like she was trying to probe my mind without her powers and determine what I was going to do. Even if she had used her powers, it wouldn't have helped. I had no idea what to say, do, think. I just sat there, staring at everything and nothing. Finally, she sighed, said I knew were to find her if I wanted to talk, and left my office.

I know what I have to do. I'm an X-man; it's our job to stop dangerous mutants who abuse their gifts. Not that Kevin would call what he has a gift, but still. He must be stopped, no matter if he is a former student and someone I once might have called friend. It's not like this has never happened before; I've long ago perfected the art of separating Magneto the dangerous villain from Magneto my headmaster. Scott will no doubt be calling a meeting in a few minuets, once he's conferred with Emma to make sure it really is Kevin. He'll expect me to be there, to offer advice and suggestions on how to handle Wither. As is his right. He's my leader, and deserves my support. It's my duty, and I will do it to the best of my ability.

If only I could erase from my mind the picture of a skinny, terrified boy squatting in a Georgia junkyard, who knew that life as he had known it was over.

-------

Scott glanced up as Dani walked in the door. He offered her a strained smile before returning to the reports and paperwork piled in front of him. "Dani. I'm glad you could come. Please take a seat? I'd like to get through with this as soon as possible." Nodding, Dani dropped into a chair next to Kitty, leaning over to ask her "So, when did you get the news?

Kitty, frowning, whispered "Just this morning. The Langston police called Scott, and discussed it with Emma before telling the rest of us." Her snort told Dani just what she thought of handing any problem over to Emma. "Shan wanted to tell you personally. Dani, do you..."

"Ahem."

They both turned to face Cyclops, who had put down the last of the paperwork and turned to face his assembled team. Logan was frowning at the table, no doubt wishing he could be out chasing Wither instead of discussing it in committee. Across from him, Hank was scribbling away in his notebook and muttering to himself. Northstar sat rigidly at attention, while Emma lounged, seemingly unconcerned with the goings on. "At nine thirty A.M, I received a call from the chief of police of Langston, Georgia." He walked over to the screen hanging behind him and pressed a button. A map of Georgia appeared, with Langston marked by a red dot. "They had received calls describing a mutant matching Kevin's description, who apparently attacked a jogger before fleeing. Two officers pursued him to a warehouse, where he killed them before making his escape. This is all the police know so far, and they haven't given us any other updates so far. It looks like we're going to have to find him ourselves, and to do that we have to figure out where he might have gone after all this." He scanned the room before him."Anyone have any ideas?"

Logan snorted."Emma can use the Cerebro, can't she? Why not just have her find the kid, and we come in on the Blackbird?"

"Because, Logan," came a somewhat sharp reply from Hank,"we need to keep this out of the public eye as much as possible. The public's perception of mutants is at a dangerously low ebb, what with Magneto's recent...depredations, and finding Wither and containing him as expediently as possible is essential."

Kitty spoke up. "But if we keep this from the public, won't it just worsen our image? And if we let everyone know that we brought Wither in, it would do the X-men a world of good."

A delicate snort from Emma came in answer. " Pryde, if your brain hasn't become as intangible as the rest of you, kindly think on what you are saying. Kevin can disintegrate organic matter. Relations between mutants and _homo sapiens_ are going poorly enough as it is. Can you imagine the effect on public opinion were this to become well known? I've been working with some contacts at CNN to try and keep this story from the media, which ought to buy us enough time to handle Kevin. Understand?"

"I suppose so. You're the expert on secret plans, after all." Kitty's teeth showed, but her expression could hardly be called a smile. Emma drew herself up and was preparing to reply when Scott sighed and said "Emma. Kitty. Enough. Does anyone else have anything to add?"

Northstar spoke up. "It seems to me that Kitty has a point. We could use the positive PR from capturing such a menace."

Dani bit back the instinctive _That "menace" is my student_. Aloud, she said "We can't be sure Kevin is acting on his own. We've got a long enough history of mind control that we at least have to consider it, and be sure to take Kevin alive. Do you really think the police or FBI would be willing to cut him any slack if he were being controlled?"

That got a derisive reply from Jean-Paul. "You seem assured, Danielle, that we can just scoop Wither up as easily as you'd grab a penny off the street. The boy has the unfortunate advantage of being trained by the X-men, and being able to eliminate witnesses before they can reveal his whereabouts. If Emma is not exaggerating her difficulties, than how exactly do you propose to find him without the aid of conventional law enforcement?"

"We user our training, and do our job. Do you really have that little faith in your teammates?"

"Dani..." Scott rubbed his eyes, then looked up and said "We need to make a choice, people. Do we cooperate with the authorities, or go after Kevin ourselves?

It took a while, but it was eventually decided that they should go after Kevin themselves, and turn him over to the proper authorities after they caught him. Dani sighed with relief.

Scott pressed another button beside the viewing screen, and it changed to a more detailed map of Georgia. "The next thing we have to decide is where to look. Emma, Dani, you two had the most contact with him before he left. Do you have any idea where he could have gone?"

Emma glanced over and Dani and sent _Well, dear? Do you want to spill the beans, or shall I ?_

Dani could think of many, many reasons why she should be the one to tell and not Emma. They were all, however, fairly petty. And personal.

She said "It think Emma knows more about this than I do. She could probably tell you more."

Rising, Emma glanced around her and said "I cannot say for certain when the idea entered young Kevin's mind, but I am fairly certain it began during last week's...incident."


	2. Down the Road

Disclaimer: Same as always. They're all Marvel's.

"_Hey, Ford! Guess who just took on the Reavers without gettin' a _ scratch _?"_

_Glancing up as the New Mutatns trooped into the rec area, races flushed and sweaty from an afternoon workout in the Danger Room, Kevin raised an eyebrow and said "David?"_

_That got a quiet chuckle from Prodigy. "I only wish." He wandered over to sit down on the couch and pick up a book from its endtable as Josh continued . His teamates, clearly familiar with the story, shook their heads and headed their seperate ways. Kevin, however, sat up and listened._

"_So there I am, trapped in a corner with Nori, Sophia and Laurie all busy. I figure, what's a healer to do, huh? Things were looking mighty grim, I tell you." The dozen or so students listening made various of awe or disbelief or amusement as Josh rambled. "I think to myself 'no way are these dorks taking me down! Not without a fight!' So I throw myself at the nearest one, just wanting his half-metal ass to go down. And what happens? He collapses, just like that. I stare for a while, wait to see if he's getting up, and when he's not, I grin and..."_

"_Get nocked on your rear," came David's dry reply from behind his book. "I Jay hadn't gotten you out of there right then, you'd have been virtual dogmeat."_

_Josh walked off, sulking, to the sound of his listener's laughter. Kevin remained frozen in place thinking furiously. _Foley can reverse his powers. Foley can reverse his powers. FOLEY can reverse his powers. If he can harm someone instead of healing them, and my powers are basically his in reverse...

_Grinning, he rose and started walking towards Laurie's room..._

Kevin woke with a jolt, as the truck rolled over a speed bump into the last truck stop before Greer. He looked sleepily at the dashboard clock; it was a quarter past eleven in the morning,

Jeb, glancing over at his passenger, said "Get out and take a leak. This here's our last stop. I don't want you fouling my truck, you hear?" Kevin almost told the older man that his truck was fouled enough as it was, but thought better of it. Pushing open the door and jumping out, he streatched aching limbs and looked around.

It was your average truck stop, a central building with restrooms and vending macines the ceterpiece with a couple of picnic tables scattered here and there behind it. The early afternoon sunlight made the place almost disturbingly bright and open, but there was no one else in sight. Perfect.

Jeb had unwrapped a turkey sandwich and was sitting at one of the tables, devouring it messily. Kevin took out a choclate bar he'd bought earlier that day, but found he didn't have the appatite to finish it.

"So where's you home again?" Jeb demanded as Kevin sat down across from him.

"26 South Dalton," he replied. It was as good a point as any to begin searching for his dad's ashes. The Professor had told him where his father's remains had been taken, but he figured it was best if noone knew where he was going beforehand. He still had about $200 dollars left in his wallet, and getting a hotel room for a few nights while he found out where, exactly his father's ashes were scattered. And once he'd found them, and collected as much of them as he could...

That was a question for later. Best focus on the now.

"You some college dropout?" Jeb's voice jerked him out of his reverie, and he looked up to seet the truck driver looking steadily at him. "Excuse me?"

"A dropout. You know, one of those stupid rich kids who goes to college for a few months, fools around, and comes back after having blown mommy and daddy's money? Why don't you just make it easier on yourself and head off on your own? Can't be worse than showing up at home a failure and a bum."

Kevin found himself unconciously tugging at his gloves. Forcing himself to stop, he said in a level voice "I didn't have much choice but to leave school. It was for the best."

"I'll bet. And I bet you won't be a burder either, that your screw ups won't cost your parents a thing. That's the problem with this country todayl; kids like you who can't hack it in the real world and..."

That was as far as he got, before Kevin tore off his gloves, leaned across the table, and grabbed him by the throat.

Shock flickered across Jeb's face as he struggled to pull Kevin off. Something was happening, though. Normally, it would've been on trouble to get control of this pipsqueak, but even as he began tugging at his hands, he seemed weaker than before. Not enough air, he thoguht fuzzily, as his hands began to go slack and his vision grew dim.

Holding on, a grim expression on his face, Kevin watched as Jeb's hands began to fall to his side, and his whole body trembles as if in the clutches of fever. His skin began turning a blotched green, his hands grew slack, and his whole body seemed to be melting before Kevin's very eyes. Kevin couldn't help but thnink that there ought to be something more to this, something thundering in his head or his ears, some sense of rightness or rythem, some euphoric feeling of glory. All he felt was the slow easing of tension in the back of his head, unnoticed until it was relieved, as his power fed.

He dropped Jeb's still twitching corpse before it could begin to disentigrate and stepped back, considering. He'd had to flee the mansion in haste, before he could really study this aspect of his power, but he supposed it was now or never. And if worst came to worst - No. That wouldn't happen. Ever again.

Slowly, he approached the corpse and laid his hands on its head. He pushed forward with his mind, slowly letting his consciousness seep into the organic molecules that made up its rapidly cooling body. Soon, he felt the body begin to disentigrate further. Furiously, he pushed against it, trying to find what his power was doing to his body and make it run backwards, put the body back together instead of tearing it apart.

He would have had better luck pushing at the wind. No matter how hard he pushed, how firmly he told his powers to reverse themselves, the body softened and greyed, turning to a viscous paste and then to ash blowing away on the wind.

Tears streamed down Kevin's cheeks as he stared at the sooty spot where Jeb had once lain. Oh god I killed him just like Dad Oh Sweet Jesus what am I going to do No. This was just one more failure. He had to get up, get back on the road, and find his Dad. There were enough people who wouldn't understand, who would try to stop him and keep him from making everything right. No need for him to hinder himself.

Turning resolutely towards Atlanta, Wither began walking to the highway to find another ride. He glanced back only once, and began to walk faster, not pausing to wipe the gathering tears from his eyes.


End file.
